Harrisburg Area Community College broke ground today for construction of the $12 million Select Medical Health Education Pavilion on the college's Wildwood Campus in Harrisburg.
The Health Education Pavilion, with 50,130 square feet, will house the college's health careers programs including the nursing, respiratory therapy and dental assisting, hygiene, and expanded function dental auxiliary programs. The pavilion will also be home to the college's nursing assistants training and EMT/Paramedic careers.
The pavilion is expected to be completed in time for the fall 2005 semester. Select Medical Corporation made a $1.2 million gift to the college to help build it.
"Select Medical sees construction of this building as a priority if we are to actively address the growing shortage of health care professionals that exists in our industry today," said Robert A. Ortenzio, president and chief executive officer of Select Medical Corporation. "We recognize the importance of supporting the higher education process in this endeavor and welcome the opportunity to partner with Harrisburg Area Community College."
Dr. Edna V. Baehre, HACC president, pointed out that working partnerships between higher education and business have become increasingly important as competition for skilled workers has increased.
"No where is this more apparent than in the health care industry where the demand for skilled professionals continues to grow, especially for registered nurses," she said. "By working together we can meet the health care industry's needs, better prepare our students for employment and continue our role as a vital community resource."
At the groundbreaking, staff members from the HACC Foundation announced developments with the college's capital campaign to help fund the new building.
"The capital campaign for the Select Medical Health Education Pavilion is progressing smoothly, having reached just under $4 million with another $2.4 million currently in outstanding proposals," said Don Schell, HACC trustee and campaign co-chair, adding that additional money is expected to come from state matching funds. "With the impressive commitment from my campaign colleague and co-chair Governor George Leader, as well as college leadership, we're aiming for a $7 million goal."
The Select Medical Health Education Pavilion, which was designed by L. Robert Kimball and Associates Architects of Harrisburg, will include microbiology and chemistry labs, a specialized training center for nursing and respiratory therapy, as well as the college's dental hygiene clinic that offers dental services to the public.
HACC's nursing students, temporarily studying at leased space at Penn Center in Harrisburg, move to the new facility for the fall 2005 semester.
"HACC's nursing program has seen tremendous growth and the demand for more nurses has never been higher," said HACC's Director of Nursing, Ron Rebuck. "The quality of nursing education here is second to none. Now, with this new facility, HACC's program gets even better. With the new nursing and simulation lab along with computer work stations we can look ahead to increased enrollments for the future."
In addition to more beds for the nursing lab, the dental hygiene clinic, now operating from Whitaker Hall with 12 chairs, will increase to a 20-chair lab, plus six dental X-ray areas, a darkroom, sterilization area for instruments and locker room.
"The design of this building is much more conducive to public access," added Kathy Schlotthauer, director of HACC's dental hygiene program and associate professor. "From a client standpoint, moving the dental hygiene clinic to a first floor location will make it easier for our patients. Increasing the number of chairs will allow us to provide more services to the people who are having problems accessing dental care. It will be good for training dental staff and for the community at large."
Based in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Select Medical Corporation is a national and local leader in the specialty health care industry. Within its inpatient division, Select Medical provides long-term acute care at its 79 Select Specialty Hospitals in 24 states, including locations in Camp Hill and York. The company also provides inpatient rehabilitation at The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, which became part of Select Medical's inpatient division in September 2003. The Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, which is comprised of four hospitals in northern New Jersey, is consistently recognized as one of the country's best rehabilitation hospitals. Select Medical's Outpatient Division is comprised of approximately 777 outpatient physical rehabilitation centers throughout the United States and Canada. Locally, Select Medical owns and operates the Joyner Sportsmedicine and NovaCare Rehabilitation network of outpatient centers. Select Medical Corporation was founded in 1996 by Rocco Ortenzio and Robert Ortenzio.
Harrisburg Area Community College has more than 15 thousand degree-seeking students at its four campuses in Harrisburg, Lancaster, Gettysburg and Lebanon. In addition, the college educates more than 50 thousand students in its non-credit and workforce development courses annually.